January 12, 2010 (A Look Into Haitian Politics)

As a survivor of the Haitian earthquake of January 12, 2010, the most common saying was "tranbleman de te pa konn moun pov e li pa konn moun rich". Translated, it means "the earthquake did not distinguish between the Haitian poor and the Haitian rich". In one form or another, this saying had been repeated countlessly throughout Haitian history. At first glance, this statement seems true, as natural disasters were impartial to the population and the locations that they destroyed. However, while investigating the structure of Haitian society, and its political and economic hierarchy, it becomes painfully evident that this statement is far from the truth. This project is a work of fiction based on real political events. This story follows Jean Pierre LaRoche, an affluent Haitian young man through his journey of political and personal self-discovery. Jean Pierre is part of the small elite class of Haitians that is able to live more than comfortably in a country, where the majority of the population suffers on a daily basis. Following the earthquake of January 12, 2010, searching for the whereabouts of a loved one, his mother, while surrounded by the chaos of the aftermath in a fragile state, Jean Pierre is forced to embark on this journey to answer the following question: why was Haiti prone to such destruction? The topics of fragility and preparedness comes into play when discussing the casualties caused by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that ravaged the country. Soon, the immediate gives rise to deeper questions, however, as the social and historical roots of Haiti’s fragility tend to be overshadowed by the “natural disaster” aspect. These social and historical causes tend to impact the lives of the marginalized population more than the lives of the elite population. Why has Haiti descended into a cycle of poverty and weak institutions? Through his journey across Haiti and his interactions with different people, Jean Pierre learns about major political moments in Haitian history and the ways in which they still affect Haitian politics and lie behind events such as the disastrous aftermath of January 12th worsening the effects of the earthquake itself. Decisive political moments, scattered throughout Haitian history, range from the revolutionary battle (1791-1804) to Haiti’s unstable election period in 2016.